A little car that goes a long way

Could ultra-efficient cars like the new Shell concept car help address some of the world’s urban transport challenges?

It’s a city car that uses a third less energy in its lifetime than a typical city car, designed with the kind of attention to weight reduction and aerodynamics found in Formula One™ racing.

This ultra-light prototype’s low-cost, low-carbon construction demonstrates a way to help keep increasingly crowded cities moving, while minimising energy use and emissions.

“You could build this car and drive it for around 100,000 kilometres before consuming the same energy it takes to make a typical SUV,” says engineer Bob Mainwaring, Shell’s Technology Manager for Innovation, who is leading the project.

By the middle of this century three-quarters of the world’s population is expected to live in cities, while the number of cars on the road could double. Cars powered by electricity, low-carbon biofuels or even hydrogen could play a growing role in road transport of the future. But much more efficient combustion engines using petrol or diesel are needed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and air pollution in the shorter term.

“We wanted to see what kind of an impact we could have if we really pushed the boundaries of what combustion engine cars can do today,” says Mainwaring.

F1™ designer Gordon Murray, engine experts Geo Technology and Shell scientists have worked closely together to co-engineer the car’s body, engine and lubricant to minimise fuel use and CO2 emissions. The result is a concept car that uses significantly less energy from its manufacture to the end of its life.

Shell is leading a collaboration with automotive experts, Gordon Murray Design, and engine specialists, Geo Technology, to explore the future of mobility and co-engineer the design and build of a concept city car.

Concept Car Launch

[Background music plays] Bright, uplifting music

[Video footage] A concept sketch of the new concept car. Extreme close-up of a viscous, brown liquid in a beaker. Close-up of a hand holding aloft a bottle of clear fluid. A lab technician studies two vials of dark-brown liquid through a strong magnifying glass. A series of elegant concept sketches showing ideas for seats, pistons and chassis.

[CEO, Gordon Murray Design] [Professor Gordon Murray] ‘'We decided to build a car from scratch, a practical solution to driving in modern cities.’’

[Animated sequence] A concept sketch being drawn is shown between each speaker change and in the background behind each speaker.

[Shell Lubricants Technology Manager for Innovation] [Bob Mainwaring] ‘'It’s a holistic approach: the materials, the manufacturing process, the lubricants, the design and engine.’’

[Director of Engineering Geotechnology] [Ikebe Hidehito] ‘'Every single element within the engine has been considered and optimized.’’

[Design Director, Gordon Murray Design] [Andy Jones] ‘'We get a great thrill when we can show this exciting car in the real world, from concepts developed on sketchpads and computers.’’

[Animated sequence] Behind the speaker, the concept car takes shape as pieces are added. The speaker disappears and the concept art fills the screen. Colour is added and the black-and-white sketch becomes a 3D model of the car.

[Text displays] The Shell Concept Car

[Animated sequence] Close-up of the front of the concept car as it pivots slowly. Camera angle swings rapidly from the front of the car to the rear.

[Animated sequence] Camera pans past the front of the concept car. The angle switches suddenly to the back of the car and then its roof. A black-and-white sketch of a tree-lined street appears as the background. The car appears to move down the street, light and shadow playing on its shiny exterior.

[Text displays] Uses 34 percent less energy over its entire lifecycle when compared to a typical city car (UK only)

[Animated sequence] The car traces a perfect circle as it performs a tight revolution. A final turning radius of 6.0 m is indicated onscreen.

[Design Director, Gordon Murray Design] [Andy Jones] ‘'The car is now here, it works and its performance is incredible.’’

[Text displays] 107 miles per gallon using real world test protocols

[Animated sequence] The car appears to move towards the camera as it drives down a black-and-white sketch of a city street. Slowly revolving 3D sketch of an engine.

[Text displays] Smart oil design to reduce friction inside engine

[Shell Lubricants Technology Manager for Innovation] [Bob Mainwaring] ‘'We used our expertise with leading edge products like Shell Helix to create an efficient lubricant which works perfectly in harmony with the engine.’’

[Video footage] Close-up of a screen showing some of the work that goes into developing a concept car: hands at a draft table, examining a piston; as well as a series of concept art images of the car. The camera pans slowly right to show the concept car in a studio setting, with bright lights focused on it.

[Animated sequence] The concept car appears to move down a city street, passing parked cars on its right. The concept car then parks itself perpendicular to the pavement between two cars parked closely together. The car’s dimensions are shown onscreen: 1.5m high, 2.5m long and 1.3m wide.

[Director of Engineering Geotechnology] [Ikebe Hidehito] ‘'We’ve shown that we have built a very energy-efficient car.’’

[Animated sequence] As the little car appears to move down a black-and-white sketch of a street, a simulation of wind flow, depicted as a stack of red lines, over the car is shown.

[Text displays] Exceptionally low drag coefficient of 0.297 for such an upright posture

[Animated sequence] A black-and-white sketch of a set of scales. The concept car is suspended in one of the scales. The other scale holds a large weight. The weight far outweighs the car.

[Text displays] It weights 550kg

[CEO, Gordon Murray Design] [Professor Gordon Murray] ‘'Collaboration has been the key. We couldn’t have designed this car on our own.’’

[Animated sequence] The 3D model of the car takes centre stage on a sketch of concentric circles. Three lines begin to radiate from various points of the car, listing key features of the vehicle.

[Video footage] Camera pans upward from extreme close-up of the car’s left headlight to looking down on the car’s bonnet. The car’s bright headlights are switched on and off to show their illumination capability. Close-up of a screen showing a couple of aerial overhead shots of a city. The concept car is visible but out of focus in the background. The camera pans up quickly from a close-up, low-angle view of the front of the car to looking down on it from above. An occupant is visible within the car.

[Text displays] Novel 3-seat layout.

[Video footage] Close-up of the car’s interior. The doors open upward and outward, and the steering-wheel and driver’s seat are centrally positioned in the front of the car. The camera angle swings around to show a long two-seater seat immediately behind the driver’s seat.

[Video footage] Close-up of a screen showing a road surface zipping by. As the camera pans right, the concept car comes into focus in the studio. Close-up, low-angle view of the car’s rear. The angle changes quickly and then moves slowly up the right door of the car.

The car has a top speed of 110 kilometres per hour (km/h) – more than enough for a day trip away from the city – but performs best at 50-70km/h. Independent tests suggest that it can drive 100km on just 2.6 litres of petrol at a steady 70km/h. In tests, it produced at least a quarter fewer CO2 emissions than typical petrol-powered city and hybrid cars. The car’s body is made with recycled carbon fibre. This helps to reduce its overall weight to 550 kilograms, while cutting the energy used in manufacturing by up to 45% compared to a city car available today.

Wing mirrors have been replaced with tiny digital cameras that relay the view of the road behind through screens inside, while new wheel-arch covers further reduce drag.

On the inside, Geo Technology improved the efficiency of an engine already found in some city cars that uses a diamond-like carbon coating to help minimise friction, while Shell scientists developed a special lubricant.

“The lower weight and the aerodynamic improvement has been a significant factor in increasing the efficiency. So has the engine lubricant collaboration between Shell and Geo Technology. By working together we’ve achieved far more than we could have done on our own,” said Matt Brewerton, the lead project design engineer at GMD.

Shell itself has no plans to put the concept car into commercial production. The car was tested alongside cars available to buy in the UK. Actual performance figures may vary according to vehicle, driving conditions and driving style. For more information, see www.shell.com/projectm.